Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has rejected Russia’s claims that his country attacked Russian President Vladimir Putin’s residence.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov claimed on Monday that the attack used 91 long-range attack drones and took place at President Vladimir Putin’s residence in Russia’s northwestern Novgorod region.
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Foreign Minister Lavrov said air defense systems shot down the attack from the air, adding that no one was injured.
Kremlin foreign policy adviser Yuri Ushakov said the attack took place “almost immediately” on Sunday after a meeting in Florida between US President Donald Trump and President Zelenskiy over negotiations to end Russia’s war with Ukraine.
President Zelenskiy quickly rejected Russia’s claims and accused Moscow of trying to derail peace talks.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sibikha also criticized Russia’s claims, saying they were aimed at undermining negotiations.
In a post on X, Sibiha said the claims were aimed at “creating a pretext and false justification for further Russian aggression against Ukraine, as well as undermining and disrupting the peace process.”
Russia said it would reconsider its negotiating position in light of the alleged attack, and Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova warned that Russia’s response was “undiplomatic.”
Late Monday, Trump said Putin told him in a phone call that Ukraine had tried to attack the Russian presidential palace.
Trump told reporters that Putin raised the allegations during their meeting.
Asked whether the allegations could affect efforts to mediate an end to the war in Ukraine, Trump said: “I don’t like it. It’s not good.” “I found out about that today from President Putin. I was very angry about it.”
When asked if there was any evidence to support the allegations, President Trump replied, “We’ll see.”
Peace negotiations under pressure
The move comes as Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine approaches its fourth year.
President Zelensky said last week that the 20-point peace plan was “90% agreed” and that U.S.-Ukrainian security was “100% agreed.”
However, major questions remain regarding the future of Russian-occupied territory in eastern Ukraine.
President Zelenskyy reiterated that the issue should be decided by the Ukrainian people and suggested that different aspects of any agreement could be put to a referendum.
After Trump and Zelensky met in Florida on Sunday, both expressed optimism that a peace deal could be near.
President Zelenskiy said on X that he spoke by phone with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, Latvian President Edgars Rinkevich and Finnish President Alexander Stubbe to update them on the status of his talks and negotiations with President Trump.
He has sought to balance relations with European allies and the United States in the face of pressure from President Donald Trump for a deal to end the war.
The battle on the front lines continues
Meanwhile, fighting continues on multiple fronts in Ukraine, with Russian forces announcing that they have captured the village of Dybrova in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine.
At least one civilian was killed and another injured in a Russian attack on the city of Ollihiv in southeastern Zaporizhzhya, regional governor Ivan Fedorov said. He said Russian guided airstrikes hit frontline cities, killing a 46-year-old man and wounding a 49-year-old woman.
In northeastern Ukraine’s Kharkiv Oblast, three people were injured by Russian artillery fire in the past 24 hours, Governor Ole Sinievov said. A 73-year-old woman was injured in the village of Hroza, a 54-year-old woman in Zolotiv and a 73-year-old man in Novoplatnivka.
Russia claimed its forces were advancing or improving positions across multiple regions, including Sumy, Kharkiv, Donetsk, Zaporizhia, Kherson and Dnipropetrovsk.
The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine announced that 89 battles were recorded along the front since the start of the day. According to an operational update published by Ukrinform on Monday, fighting continued in six districts, with Russian forces concentrating their main activities in the Pokrovsk area.
